I just polished off a couple of stories on the Arkansas basketball team, which begins practice tomorrow night.

Plenty of news, notes and quotes were crammed into the space. Most of it dealt with the offseason turmoil surrounding the program.

But while I was working on all that, Arkansas did release two news items worth mentioning here on the blog:

• The FoxSports.com love for the Razorbacks continues. A couple days after guard Rotnei Clarke was named the nation’s top shooter, forward Marshawn Powell was named one of 20 impact freshman. Powell, who has shed 25 pounds since arriving on campus and is expected to aid Michael Washington in the frontcourt immediately, was listed at No. 18 on the FoxSports.com list.

• Arkansas announced that Razorback Sports Network has finalized a six-game broadcast schedule for nonconference games. Here are the six games that will be on TV in addition to what has already been set: Nov. 27 (East Tennessee St), Dec. 2 (Oklahoma), Dec. 16 (Alabama St.), Dec. 19 (Stephen F. Austin), Dec. 22 (Missouri St.) and Jan. 2 (Alabama-Birmingham). Where can you watch those games? Here is what is listed — KFTA (Ch. 24) in Fayetteville, KATV (Ch. 7) in Little Rock and KAIT (Ch. in Jonesboro.

It has been awhile since we’ve gotten to talk to Arkansas men’s basketball coach John Pelphrey.

Actually, it has been four months if my math is correct. Wow. That’s a long time.

But Pelphrey was the guest speaker at the Northwest Arkansas Razorback Club banquet at Rogers Heritage High on Tuesday night, giving us a chance to check in with the coach. He took questions from the media for five minutes, then spoke to club for roughly 3o minutes, then spoke to the media again for another three or four minutes after it was all over.

Here are three highlights:

• For starters, Pelphrey said freshman forward Marshawn Powell will be ready when preseason practice begins Friday. Powell has been slowed by a broken left hand, something he sustained in a pickup game a little while back. Pelphrey said Powell missed individual workouts because of the broken hand, but still managed to lose 25 pounds since arriving on campus. He said Powell is in great shape.

“I wasn’t too alarmed when it happened,” Pelphrey said of Powell’s broken hand. “I was glad it happened when it did. He’s worked very hard to maintain his conditioning. We’ve been very, very cautious.”

• This also was the first chance we’ve had to talk to Pelphrey since he doled out the suspensions for players involved in the frat house incident in late August. Pelphrey wouldn’t say much when asked Tuesday night. He said he would discuss the situation further when he met with the media Thursday during a press conference set to preview the start of practice. But we did get a little bit out of him.

“I think it’s not one of those days you look forward to having, but sometimes in leadership roles you’ve got to deal with stuff like that,” Pelphrey said about the incident. “I’m sure somewhere along my career, if I can stick around long enough in some form or fashion, we’ll have other things we’ll have to deal with and we’ll certainly try to deal with them in as timely a fashion as we can.”

• Now for something completely different. … Pelphrey said he’s entertaining the idea of playing a game in Barnhill Arena sometime down the road. The idea really started to sink in when he attended an Arkansas volleyball game in Barnhill recently. There have been no serious discussions regarding Pelphrey’s idea. He said it would probably be difficult, but likes the thought of filling Barnhill for basketball.

“I don’t know if it’s possible,” Pelphrey said. “It would have to be a separate ticket and they may not let us do that. But being over there to watch that volleyball game the other day, it got loud in there a couple of times.”

There was much more said tonight and I’ll do my best to get some more hoops info up in the next few days.

There will be plenty more Thursday, too, when Pelphrey does meet with the media in Bud Walton Arena.

Arkansas coach John Pelphrey and the Razorbacks got some good news a little while ago. Forward Marshawn Powell — a top 50 player according to Scout.com — has been cleared by the NCAA and will be playing for the Razorbacks next season.

Dudley Dawson has a story on Powell over at HawgsIllustrated.com.

What does this mean for the Razorbacks? A lot, actually.

Arkansas believes it now has someone who can team up with senior Michael Washington in the post, giving it some much-needed size and skill in the frontcourt. Powell averaged 22 points, 12 rebounds and 5 blocks playing for The Miller School in Virginia last season. Powell, who said he can play both the four and five, is expected to be on Arkansas’ campus soon.

Powell’s arrival pushes Arkansas a little closer to resolving its scholarship crunch. As we’ve said several times, the Razorbacks have 14 scholarships going to 13 players for now. That means one returning player may not make it back. Or one signee won’t be arriving.

West Memphis’ Anthony Borden is still waiting for his test scores to know how he stands, according to Dudley’s story. Arkansas fans can catch a peek at Borden tonight, when he plays in a high school all-star game in Bud Walton Arena.

Check back for more info on Powell in The Morning News tomorrow.

Well, the signing ceremony is over and the fax has been sent in.

Wayne Brent, the boys basketball coach at Callaway High in Jackson, Miss., told Hawgs Illustrated’s Dudley Dawson a few minutes ago that point guard Julysses Nobles signed and faxed in his letter-of-intent to Arkansas this afternoon.

A finalist for Mississippi’s Mr. Basketball award, Nobles (6-foot-1, 175 pounds) chose Arkansas over Iowa, Wichita State, UAB, Tulane and Georgia State. Florida State also recruited Nobles, who averaged 21 points, six assists and five rebounds this past season as his Callaway team won a state championship.

Nobles joins John Pelphrey’s 2009-10 recruiting class, which also includes West Memphis center Anthony Borden (7-0, 230), power forward Marshawn Powell (6-8, 250) of The Miller (Va.) School and Cloud County (Kan.) Community College wing Jemal Farmer (6-5, 215).

The University of Arkansas had its spring break last week, allowing John Pelphrey’s basketball players to spend a few days at home with their families. Pelphrey hit the road, as well, looking to add to his 2009-10 recruiting class. Back in Fayetteville on Monday, he took a few minutes to meet with reporters and discuss Arkansas’ offseason plans.

First and foremost, the media expressed an interest in getting an update regarding junior forward Michael Washington, a second-team all-SEC pick who may turn pro. Pelphrey said that he hadn’t spoken much with Washington but that during their brief conversations, he could tell Washington was conflicted.

While insisting that this is a “Mike and his family decision,” Pelphrey also revealed that he would give Washington an accurate assessment of what would be wise to do.

“We’ll support him in making the best decision possible,” Pelphrey said. “I think he would like to come back for his senior year, but I think he does want to see what interest is out there. … My sense has been that if he can be a first-round draft pick, that’s one thing. If not, let’s come back and work and see if he can’t become a first-round draft pick.”

Pelphrey addressed plenty of other topics. Among them, he commented …

• On oft-suspended freshman Jason Henry: “He’s still day to day. He’s make some strides. I believe (he is doing the right things to get back in good standing). There was a breakfast check this morning and he was there. That’s a good start. He’s on the team. I don’t anticipate taking him off the team.”

• On the chances of his three recruits — Jemal Farmer, Marshawn Powell and Anthony Borden — taking care of their academic work and enrolling at Arkansas: “We’re optimistic. We’re hopeful that at least one of them, maybe more, will come to summer school.”

• On the type of player he’s trying to find during spring recruiting: “Guys that can help. Big wings. Bigger, athletic guys. Also, we need another ball-handler at the point guard spot. We’re going to sign some people in the spring. How many of them, I don’t know.”

• On the most important areas in which he wants to see progress: “For me right now, a focus is I want to see these young men take ownership in their basketball team. I want to see them take responsibility for each other and have honor and respect amongst the team, and police themselves so to speak. I get a chance to hear all the time what we want to do, where we want to go, all these types of things. Now you need to show me.”

• On the NCAA asking Arkansas for information on some of the school’s basketball recruiting practices: “From my understanding, it is an inquiry. I don’t really forsee any issues with that. I know that myself and the coaching staff (find it) important to follow the rules and guidelines that were put into play, and in doing things the right way.
I’m not too concerned that there’s anything other there than what they say it is.”

• On whether he plans to make changes to his coaching staff: “Not from my side of it. I don’t know if those guys might have the chance to move up the ladder.”

• On what exactly caused Arkansas’ struggles this past season: “I don’t think I have enough time to sit here and go through all of it. I’ve thought about that a lot. I don’t think there’s an easy one word answer there. I don’t want to sit here and make a bunch of excuses, either. I understood who we were coming into this season and knew it would be a challenging deal, losing six seniors and Patrick (Beverley), and … then Marcus (Monk) … We just didn’t play well enough at the right times.”

Pelphrey also stated that Arkansas would play Texas at home and travel to Oklahoma next season. He said he couldn’t comment on other games because contracts haven’t been finalized.

Arkansas coach John Pelphrey took time out of his Tuesday news conference to comment about each of his three new recruits. Pelphrey hadn’t received copies of their letters of intent when meeting with the media last week on national signing day. So this is the first time Pelphrey has commented publicly since the trio signed.

The Razorbacks signed 7-foot center Anthony Borden, of West Memphis, 6-5 junior college wing Jemal Farmer and 6-7 forward Marshawn Powell.

Here’s the release from the UA athletic department.